The computer is part of today's life, and we are faced with using them in our jobs, and at times even at home. I believe it would be hard to find an advanced office in the U.S. that does not have a computer in use. However use of computers and keyboards is not totally benign and easy, and some difficulties have occurred. One of my patients developed carpal tunnel syndrome which was believed to be due to heavy use of a computer keyboard. In my experience other problems also occur, such as pain in areas of the hands that touch the hard parts of the desk or the keyboard of the computer. Since people are different, I believe it is not possible to make a single keyboard that will match and be perfect for everyone. The fact is that people have different sizes, body figures, make-up, sexes, ages, etc. Some people are twice as tall as others, or even more. Some have about twice the width as others. This is true about other parts of their bodies and arm sizes too. The difference between the hands of men and women is obvious. Most men have big bulky hands and most women have slim smaller hands with less muscles. Even in one sex and family the difference can be noted; my son puts the keyboard in a different position than I do. So even in one home and one family, the husband, the wife, the girls and boys, the older and younger children may have different choices for the keyboard and its height, angulation, etc.
Another important point that I want to mention is that from my own experience a single person may wish to use a keyboard differently when one part of the hand has been under pressure for awhile and different muscles and parts of the hands previously used may be wished to be left free for awhile. However in practice, there is not much choice in keyboards and their sizes. Even their height cannot be adjusted easily, which I believe is a part of the problems with the present keyboards. So when we consider people with different sizes, arm lengths, back bone and back structure, the fact is that the chair and the desk they use are many times different and at times not adjustable as they wish. Then we reach the conclusion that it will be advantageous, and even at times necessary, to have a keyboard that allows its height to be adjusted, which is not possible with the units that I have seen. This is also true about angulation between the keyboard and the user. It is true that most keyboards have a couple of snaps in their bottom that can be raised to cause angulation of the keyboard. But it is only one choice and not more. Therefore I believe it will be very useful to have a unit added that gives a choice of angulation between the keyboard and the user which is not possible with present units.
Another major problem that I have noticed during my work with the computer is that the rear part of my palms sits against and touches the edge of the keyboard and the table, and this gets so painful that I have to stop many times to avoid pain. To solve this problem I once used a piece of plastic with bubbles that was used in packing a unit which was shipped to us. I noted that it was helpful to some degree, but not much, and the bubbles also popped since they were not designed for this job and were not protected properly from localized pressure from the base of my palms.
These observations gave me the belief that there is a need for a unit to give more freedom, choice and support for keyboard users, and this made me present my own unit for this use.
This unit is made from combinations of soft and hard plastic, and may have sponges in its construction as well as mosaics of bubbles and balloons and elastic bands. This unit has a rectangular area in its top surface that matches and accepts the keyboard of a computer. This place may also be covered by a thin layer of plastic which has mosaics of bubbles inside it, which I believe causes dissipation and absorption of some of the pressure from the tips of the fingers.
In front of this place there is another place that allows the palms and part of the wrist in some cases to be placed. This area has a rectangular shape and is covered by a soft pad. The soft pad is either permanently attached to this unit and area, or it can be removably and exchangeably stuck or placed in that area. For this purpose, this unit has a flat surface in its front that has patches of Velcro.sub.TM to allow the matching pieces of Velcro.sub.TM from the bottom of the soft pad to stick to it and hold it in place. This allows different soft pads to be stuck and to be exchanged easily. The surface of the soft pads can be flat, or convex, or concave. Also it will allow pieces with different thickness and softness to be chosen.
This invention allows the height of the keyboard as well as its angulation to be adjusted, and the parts that are touched to be softer. The unit also has an empty space in its bottom like a rectangular flat space that allows multiple pieces of matching boards to be placed in it. These boards have different shapes; some are like regular flat boards, while others have the shape of smooth flat wedges. These boards can be connected to each other by simple ways to make a unit with adjusted height and angulation to be placed under the keyboard. The soft pad in front is made from mosaics of soft plastic bubbles covered by a soft non-irritant plastic that can have different shapes to allow the base of the palms to be situated on it for better and softer feelings. This prevents the hands from touching the hard part of the table as well as the hard edge of the keyboard. Dust also is dislikeable and may gradually damage the unit, and to prevent its accumulation on the keyboard, a cover is connected to the rear end of this unit that can be pulled to cover the keyboard from dust.